Raskaj, Slava

Born deaf at Ozalj, Croatia and uneducated until age 7. Lack of communication with others led to her becoming withdrawn and reclusive. She was sent to an oral institution for deaf children in Vienna, Austria through age 15. She showed art talent at that school and was encouraged to develop it. 1895-1898, she attended an art school in Zagreb. After leaving school, she opened her own atelier but a year later returned home to Ozalj. Depression set in and began to show in her art work, which has been exhibited since 1898 in art museums in Zagreb, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. She was institutionalized for worsening mental problems in 1902 and died still in the institution.